The base of solar and lunar eclipses from -1999 to +3000

Map of the passage of the shadow during a total solar eclipse of May 4, 2972

Even if most of humanity will become extinct as a result of a global catastrophe , nothing terrible will happen to our planet. The Earth will continue to move in an absolutely predictable orbit, and the Moon will still revolve around, periodically closing the Sun. Knowing the initial data, one can extremely accurately predict the time and place of all solar and lunar eclipses for thousands of years ahead.

For example, on May 4, 2972 ​​at 15:40 UTC, the center of the lunar shadow will pass exactly along the Russian capital. On this day, the surviving Muscovites will enjoy a total solar eclipse, plunging into total darkness for 2 minutes and 52.7 seconds. The main thing that the weather was good.

Detailed information about the date, time and place of each eclipse from -1999 to +3000 years contains the NASA catalog : there are solar and lunar eclipses of the past and the future in the database .

In fact, it is not so easy to make such accurate calculations, because the moon's orbit constantly fluctuates with a frequency of 8 years, 11 days and 8 hours - the so-called draconic period or saros. Since saros is not a multiple of the whole day, repeated eclipses are constantly observed from different places of the globe. For more information on calculating eclipses, see a video from NASA .



In the NASA catalog, you can find out if there will be an eclipse at a specific date or at specific coordinates - and display it on Google Maps.

Still, it's nice to know that in a thousand years, on a certain day and a certain time, people will observe the same natural phenomenon that we can see today. Life on Earth is changing, but space remains stable and predictable, like nothing else.

For example, in Moscow (latitude 55.75185, longitude 37.61719) the nearest total solar eclipse will occur relatively soon - on October 16, 2126 .

For comparison, the people of Kiev will have to wait much longer - until September 2, 2426 .

In Minsk, the eclipse will take place on May 26, 2245 .

If you can not wait, then on August 21, 2017 you can visit the United States.



In total, from -1999 to +3000 years, 11,898 solar eclipses took place / will take place, including 4,200 partial, 2,956 ring-shaped, 3,173 total and 569 hybrid.